BC landlord who failed to fix disabled tenant’s condo on the hook $60,000

A BC landlord and a property manager have been ordered to pay a disabled woman they considered a “difficult tenant” $60,000 in compensation after the Human Rights Tribunal found they’d purposely neglected the woman’s condo.

According to a March 25 BC Human Rights Tribunal decision, Michael Shore and Kerry Knudsen “singled out” disabled tenant Stephanie Elderton, leaving her to live with black mould, a broken toilet and a leaky ceiling.

In contrast, other tenants in the building had their apartments looked after.

“The nature of discrimination in this case was serious and ongoing. It impacted Ms. Elderton’s mobility in her home, her ability to live in safe, mould-free conditions, and her access to a functioning toilet,” the Tribunal said. “Instead of implementing accommodations to allow Ms. Elderton to live safely and with dignity, (Shore and Knudsen) singled out Ms. Elderton for adverse treatment because of her disabilities.”

The Tribunal called the discrimination “egregious.”

The decision said Elderton, who uses a mobility scooter to get around, lived on the fourth floor of Harbourview Manor, a building that was owned by Shore and managed by Knudsen.

She had a strained relationship with her landlord, and over the years, they’d tried to evict her several times. 

Elderton accused Shore and Knudsen of discriminating against her in numerous ways.

They’d refused to fix her toilet, saying she had “abnormal feces” which blocked the pipes. They’d failed to fix a leaky roof, telling Elderton her reduction in rent made up for it, and left her with a carpet full of holes, which was difficult to navigate in a wheelchair.

“The ceiling damage filled buckets with murky water when it rained and produced black mould,” the Tribunal said.

The Tribunal said that while the landlord failed to repair Elderton’s ceiling, it repaired the ceilings of the other, non-disabled tenants.

“Indicating their view that Ms. Elderton was not entitled to the same dignity in tenancy as the other residents,” the Tribunal said.

The Tribunal said they’d allowed her to live in “unacceptable conditions” that other tenants weren’t subjected to.

With the help of friends, Elderton fixed the issues herself. A new toilet got rid of the plumbing issues, and when the building was sold, the new owners put in vinyl flooring, allowing her to move around easily. 

The Tribunal said Shore saw her as a difficult tenant for asserting her rights.

Shore told the Tribunal he had “compassion” for Elderton, but the Tribunal questioned why that compassion didn’t spur him into action.

“Instead of recognizing his legal obligation to accommodate Ms. Elderton so that she could live as independently as possible, he thought Ms. Elderton would have been better off living somewhere else—i.e. in a care home,” the Tribunal said.

Elderton’s said her landlord’s conduct was “deeply embarrassing and dehumanizing,” and the Tribunal agreed, saying she was entitled to a “meaningful award” for injury to dignity.

Ultimately, the Tribunal ordered Shore and Knudsen to pay $61,250, plus interest.